Erin is not a girl who misses much. She is vigilant and aggressively curious. Following art theft, drive-by architecture, cultural guerrillas, events and coincidences in D.C. and environs
Another white deco jewel by architect CJ Smale at 191 Hudson Ave at 2nd St in Hancock Park. Built in 1929-1930. Check out amazing stained glass window and gated carport.
"I can never get a zipper to close. Maybe that stands for something, what do you think?" The Cinefamily at the Silent Movie Theatre is screening Gilda (1946) on Saturday, June 21st at 1 PM as part of their Femme Fatale Hall of Fame series, brought to you by the inimitable programmer, Hadrian Belove (formerly associated with Cinefile). Rita Hayworth is a spellbinding knock-out opposite Glenn Ford in Charles Vidor's classic noir romance. Gilda taught women everywhere how to toss their hair and strip off their black satin opera gloves.
Gilda's nightclub performance of "Put the Blame on Mame":
The Silent Movie Theatre is owned by the brothers who are responsible for Family, a curated bookstore that, I was told, only carries books with aesthetically appealing covers. Family also hosts events for writers and artists , sometimes with corollary evenings at Cinefamily, like the recent Gary Panter book-signing and companion screening of pre-code cartoons.
The Silent Movie Theatre can be found at 611 N Fairfax Ave, LA 90036, or call 323.655.2510 Family is located close by at 436 N Fairfax Ave, open from noon-9.
The formula is: large editions + low prices x the internet = art for everyone. Jen Bekman started 20x200 and set some basic rules: two new pieces are introduced each week, one work on paper and one photo, each piece comes in three sizes. There are 200 editions of the smallest size (8 1/2" x 11") at $20 apiece, 20 editions of the medium size available for $200, and two of the largest size for $2000.
Augusten Burroughs on his work habits (in bed, around the clock), advice for blossoming writers (just read), and how to conquer writer's block, "Just sit down and write about the writer's block! The more you write about it, the more you'll dissolve it, like dropping a couple of Alka Seltzer tablets into a glass of water, it'll fizz and it'll go away."
Chris Burden's "What My Dad Gave Me" officially opened Wednesday in Rockefeller Center. It is a 65 ft skyscraper made of 16,000 lbs of Erector Set components commissioned by the Public Art Fund. On how this piece relates to the rest of his oeuvre, Burden said, "These are structures that are performing themselves in their forms." Performance has always been a factor for Burden, especially in his earlier works (like his infamous "Shoot"). There's also a great NY Times article by Randy Kennedy.
"What My Dad Gave Me" is an elaboration on its precursor, "Small Skyscraper", which I saw at LACE in 2003. The dimensions of "Small Skyscraper" exploit a loophole in LA County building code that waives a permit for structures under 35 feet tall and 400 square feet in area. It has four rooms, and had to be displayed on its side in the gallery. The LACE exhibit literature called it, "a sculpture disguised as a house disguised as a skyscraper."
